Cole Hamels was the best part of the Phillies’ loss; ex-Fanatic host lands a new job

Forget announcing, the Phillies could’ve used Cole Hamels coming out of the bullpen.

The World Series MVP was solid yet unspectacular in his regular-season broadcasting debut Sunday, which saw the Phillies’ bullpen cough up a late lead against the Miami Marlins.

Hamels accomplished the one major goal he had going into Sunday’s game — no four letter words, something former teammate and current TBS analyst Jimmy Rollins failed to avoid in his NBC Sports Philadelphia debut back in 2019

“You can’t bring the clubhouse talk up to the booth,” Hamels told The Inquirer ahead of the game.

Hamels felt calm and collected in a booth that also featured play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy and fellow analyst Rubén Amaro Jr. Navigating a three-person crew can sometimes be tricky, especially with the pitch clock, but Hamels didn’t over analyze every pitch or force himself to talk when he had nothing to add. He even snuck in a few timely remarks.

In the first inning, Hamels pointed out Phillies slugger Bryce Harper had been “seeing the ball well” over the past couple of days, noting the Phillies slugger “definitely knows what’s coming.”

Just a few pitches later, Harper sliced a double off Marlins starter Connor Gillispie to give the Phillies an early lead.

“He is seeing the ball well,” McCarthy emphasized.

For much of the game, Hamels didn’t have much to work with. The Phillies got out to an early 3-0 lead and the Marlins didn’t really wake up until the 8th inning, which resulted in the broadcast at times drifting into something more akin to The Cole Hamels Show.

That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In the fifth inning, Hamels had an enlightening discussion about how he and former Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz would communicate pitches sometimes before the batters were even set up at the plate, something they picked up from former pitchers Jamie Moyer and Randy Wolf.

“Carlos and I would set up the pitches when he would throw back [to the mound] in a certain way. I could catch it and kind-of nod or give some sort of a signal,” Hamels said. “[Moyer and Wolff] were sending signals and signs with the way they licked their lips and catch a ball… it’s the game within the game.”

He also offered some clearheaded thoughts on Orion Kerkering, who gave up the lead on a three-run home run in the eighth inning on a hanging slider.

“He had a great fastball... I think he just needed to keep sticking with that,” Hamels said on Phillies Postgame Live. “Just the way it lined up, he left one pitch [over the plate] — probably didn’t have to throw that pitch at that time, and it penalized him and obviously changed the whole outcome of the game."

The current plan is for Hamels to call at least one game a month, essentially filling in for Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt when he has other obligations. So throughout the season, Phillies fans will get to hear Hamels paired with Ben Davis and John Kruk.

“Welcome to the dark side,” NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Ricky Bottalico said jokingly following the game.

If the tanking Sixers manage to turn things around next season, fans won’t see any of their playoff games on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

In previous years, regional sports networks like NBC Sports Philadelphia had local broadcast rights for the first round of the NBA playoffs, which would also air nationally on TNT and ESPN. That decades-long arrangement will end next season, thanks to the NBA’s new broadcast rights deal.

According to the Sports Business Journal, the NBA’s three media partners — ESPN (and ABC), Amazon, and NBC — will have exclusive national TV and streaming rights to first round playoffs games beginning in the 2025-26 season.

Flyers playoff games (it probably feels as weird to read as it was to type) might also exit NBC Sports Philadelphia in a few years, with the NHL’s current TV deals with ESPN and TNT Sports set to expire following the 2027-28 season.

“I would think next time that, whether it’s us or TNT, we need exclusive playoff games,” longtime ESPN hockey announcer and SportsCenter host John Buccigross said on Sports Business Journal’s The Sports Media Podcast earlier this month. “We just can’t sacrifice a round where these big markets can watch on their regional sports network.”